あけましておめでとう
by Tetsuwan Penguin
Summary: Astro and Reno spend New Years in NYC. They run into Skunk and have to foil his evil intentions. This story is a bit of a sequel to my "Doppelganger" and "RIB" stories.


あけましておめでとう

 **Astro** couldn't help notice the two half packed open suitcases sitting on top of the bed in Reno's bedroom as he passed by on his way to the kitchen.

"Going on a trip?", Astro asked.

Reno's face flashed a guilty look, he shrugged his shoulders and turned to face the boy robot. "Yeah, I was going to tell you about it. Ochamonizu Hakase asked me to work with a friend of his in New York over the New Year's weekend."

"I bet you didn't even hesitate in agreeing to go," Astro laughed. "Tell Rene I said hello!"

"Yeah, she had already sent me a text message inviting me to be with her in Times Square during the New Year celebration," Reno laughed. "They do things a bit differently in America than we do here in Japan. They tend to get rowdy and drunk at parties, while we have quiet ceremonies in shrine like settings."

"Hakase didn't tell me anything about this," Astro asked, "What does he want you to do there?"

"The Professors good friend, Dr. Emil, was contracted by the City of New York to work on this years light display for the New Year's eve light show," Reno started to explain. "He built a special robot as part of the performance, and he asked Hakase to come over to help. I'm going in his place, since the Professor suddenly came down with a real bad head cold and is too ill to travel. I just found out about this a few hours ago, and I've been in a rush to pack."

"But you still invited me over for pizza?" Astro replied.

"Well, we ALWAYS have pizza together on Wednesday night," Reno laughed, "and there's still time for us to make that red eye flight to N.Y."

"Us?" Astro quavered.

"Yes," Reno laughed, handing him a fat envelope. "Hakase gave me two airline reservations. He thought I'd like to have a friend come along with me on the long flight."

"But I'll just be in your way with Rene," Astro wailed.

"She'd like to see you too," Reno laughed. "How could she forget a hero that saved her from giant roaches?"

* * *

 **Skunk** Kusai slapped Jazz on his back and laughed. "Good job, that bug you planted in the Ministry of Science, in elephant nose's office is working great!"

Skunk's henchman smiled. "It was a piece of cake boss!," he replied, "your idea of posing as a janitor worked great."

Kusai flicked a thumb in a third man's direction. "Well Blues did a good job of heisting the uniforms from the cleaning crew's truck," he said. "The late crew over at the MOS was too lax in their check of Id's, so those uniforms were all you needed to gain admission."

"So what did you learn?", Blues asked.

"I've learned that a very special robot developed by a good friend of elephant nose is going to be working in NYC," Skunk said, "and we're going to make use of that robot to break into a museum and steal some gems. Pack your bags gents, our plane leaves in a few hours."

* * *

 **Astro** lead the way from the JAL gate to the baggage claim area. Even at this very late (or early depending on your point of view) hour, the JFK international terminal was still somewhat busy. Reno hurried to keep up with his robot friend. "Hey Astro, slow down!" he yelled out, "We've got plenty of time!"

Astro didn't slow down, and he motioned for Reno to catch up with him. "Speed up, Reno!" he answered, "I don't want to lose him,"

"Lose who?", Reno asked.

"I'm almost certain that I saw Skunk Kusai on the plane in the first class section," he said,

"Skunk?" Reno voiced. "Now that can't be a coincidence!"

The two friends quickly found themselves at the baggage claim conveyor belt, which had already started dumping bags into the collection area. "There he is!", Astro yelled, pointing to a man with a slightly green complexion wearing a hat, accompanied by two plug ugly kling-ons. The trio jumped into a waiting car and disappeared.

"You sure that was him?", Reno asked.

Astro just nodded. "We should let the police know," Reno suggested.

* * *

 **The** early morning traffic wasn't too bad, and the boys found themselves at the DoubleTree Suites, just across from Times Square in less than an hour after leaving the airport by cab.

"Wow, nice digs!" Astro said as soon as they got into their room.

"And not as expensive as I'd have thought for this location," Reno said, looking at the paperwork, "Less than ¥17,000 a night!"

"Well we'd better get some shut eye," Astro said claiming the bed near the window, "we have an early meeting with Dr. Emil in a few hours!"

"No problem," Reno said. "I slept on the plane, and you don't really need any sleep."

* * *

 **Reno** and Astro walked the mile distance from the hotel to Dr. Emil's office in the Empire State building. Astro pointed out that they could have taken the subway, but Reno nixed the idea. "I don't think I want to use the subway," Reno voiced, "Besides, while it is cold outside, there is no wind and the sky is crystal clear. It's a nice day for a walk, and I'd like to see the city from ground level."

"OK, I get it," Astro laughed. "You're afraid there might be giant roaches in the subway."

"There ARE, giant roaches in the subway, Astro!" Reno laughed. "This is New York, and they don't clean down there, like in Tokyo!"

They stopped at a small deli on 5th Avenue, where Reno got a bagel sandwich with cream cheese and Lox, along with a cup of coffee, to go. Astro had already grabbed a foot long hotdog, loaded with mustard and sauerkraut, from a street vendor with a push cart. They continued walking south while eating their breakfasts.

* * *

 **Dr. Emil** greeted the two boys with a long handshake. "I'm sorry that Ochanomizu Hakase couldn't come," Reno said, "but he's laid up in bed with a bad cold. He sent me in his place."

"That's OK," the tall man with curly hair said. "He's told me nothing but good things about you. Someday you are going to be running the Ministry's robot program."

"Hopefully not for a long time," Reno said.

"And I'm very happy to finally meet you, Astro!", Emil said. "My Denkou isn't as perfect as you, but he does have some unique abilities as you'll soon see!" The doctor pressed a button on his desk intercom, and a door behind him clicked open. A small robot, a few cm shorter than Astro walked into the room. It had a full head of uncombed greenish-blond hair , and wore a one piece jumpsuit.

"Denkou, I'd like you to meet Reno, and Atomu from Japan," the doctor said.

"Good morning Sensei!", the robot said, bowing towards Astro and Reno. "Ohayōgozaimasu, Reno-San, Atomu-Kun!"

"Denkou is a special robot," Dr. Emil explained. "His skin and outer clothing are made of a special semiconductor matrix that has the ability to interact with photons. Every square micrometer of his body is covered with these photonic semiconductors that act as both light detectors, and emitters at the same time. By examining the light patterns behind him, and duplicating them on the other side of his body, he can actually appear to be transparent to light. He can blend into his surroundings like a chameleon,"

"Wow, Active invisibility!" Reno gasped. "I bet he can also produce interesting effects around him using light."

"Exactly!" the doctor explained. "He's going to ride the ball down the tower on New Year's eve!" Emil turned towards Denkou, and patted him on his head. "Give the boys a demonstration please."

Denkou smiled at Reno and Astro. He walked towards them, and slowly faded from view as his active invisibility activated, making him transparent. Denkou walked behind the boys and then poked each of them with a finger. They turned around to see a glowing ball of light that pulsated in color and intensity. Gradually the light faded out and Denkou's image faded back in.

"That's neat!" Reno laughed. "So what kind of help did you need from us?"

"Actually nothing at all," Dr. Emil laughed. "I really wanted Ochanomizu Hakase to see my latest creation and to enjoy the New Year with me. I hope you'll bring a camera and take lots of pictures back to your professor."

"That we will!", Reno said. He quickly looked at his watch. "I've got a date with a friend in a few hours. We're going to meet at the Haydon Planetarium and the Museum of Natural History."

"Too bad," Astro laughed. "That's all the way uptown, and you'll have to take the subway!"

"Or a bus," Reno counted.

"Take the subway," Emil warned him, "Or you'll be late. The buses always get stuck in traffic!"

"Well then, I guess we'll do some sightseeing until tomorrow night," Astro said.

"What time do you want us over tomorrow?", Reno asked.

"Get to Times Square after lunch time," Dr. Emil replied. "Denkou and I will be working on the equipment then, and we might be able to use a little assistance testing everything before the midnight show!"

The two boys left the doctor's office, and took the elevator down to the street. Dr. Emil sighed, "Well Denkou, I wish that Ochamonizu would have been able to be here, but I'm glad to have finally met Atomu. What do you think?"

"You described him very well. I like Atomu!"

"So do I," Emil said. "Denkou, could you do me a favor please?"

"What is is Emil, Sensei?"

The doctor handed the robot a twenty dollar bill. "Could you please run downstairs and go to the Japanese restaurant across the street and get me my usual breakfast?"

"Hai, Sensei!", Denkou smiled. "I'll be right back!"

* * *

" **Take** a good look at this," Skunk Kusai said, showing the color brochure to Blues and Jazz. "That crystal spheroid is the largest hunk of raw diamond to have been mined in the last century. It's on display at the Museum of Natural History, in their hall of gems. The Morbucks family has owned that gazillion dollar rock for several decades, and they have finally agreed to put it on display."

Jazz took a close look at the large photo in the museum advertisement "It doesn't look like they have it inside of a glass cage, it's just sitting on a pedestal"

"True, but you can't just try and grab it," Skunk laughed. "The display case is a virtual one, the rock is surrounded by a field of laser light, and there are dozens of cameras aimed at it. There are automatic doors on all the exits to the exhibit area. Anyone that tries to just grab that rock will trip a laser beam, and their photograph will be taken multiple times. They will then be locked in the small display area to wait for the police to show up. There might even be knock out gas piped in."

"So you'd have to be invisible to grab that diamond," Blues said.

"Exactly!" Kusai laughed.

* * *

 **Denkou** pocketed his change, and carried the large bag of food out of the restaurant. Half a block away, Skunk saw the small robot walking towards the crosswalk. He broke into a fast walk, and got behind Denkou.

"Hello, Denkou!" Skunk said in a cheerful voice.

"Hello!", the boy like robot replied. "I'm in a hurry, Sensei is hungry and I've got his breakfast!"

"Then it's good that I found you!" Skunk said, in a concerned tone.

"What do you mean?" Denkou asked.

"I'm good friends with your sensei," Skunk said, "He just called me on my cellphone, hoping I'd catch you before you headed back. Seems he got called away on an important errand, and he needs you. Asked me to take you to him, he did."

"Arigatōgozaimashita," Denkou replied. "Sensei is sometimes forgetful, I would have gotten back to his office and he wouldn't be there, or have left a note!"

"That's my good friend, all right!" Skunk laughed. "Good thing I have a rental car!"

Kusai waved his hand and a late model Lincoln pulled up to the cub with Blues at the wheel. Skunk opened the rear door and motioned for Denkou to get it, he then sat next to the robot in the rear seat behind his driver. "To the museum!" he said.

* * *

 **Reno** didn't appear nervous as he and Astro boarded the uptown "C" train. "See, no roaches!" Astro laughed.

"I hope I never see another one of those alien bugs again!", Reno said, giving a shiver.

"Don't worry, I got the last of them," Astro laughed, pulling a pair of black sunglasses out of his pocket.

"Take those things off," Reno said. "I'd rather forget that experience."

"OK," Astro smirked. "I wonder how Marvin is doing?"

* * *

 **Rene** was waiting at the ticket counter, she waved when she saw Reno and Astro approaching. As soon as they were together, she gave Reno a big hug and a small peck on the cheek. "Glad to finally see you again!"

"Me too," Reno said. "You do remember Astro, don't you?"

"How could I forget you!" she laughed.

"So what do you have planed?" Reno asked.

"Well there is a special gem collection on loan to the museum this month," Rene said. "I thought we'd take a look at that, and then catch the holiday show at the Planetarium."

"Sounds good to me," Reno said. "You OK with that, Astro?"

"Sure," the boy robot replied. "I'll just tag along and try not to get in your way."

* * *

 **Skunk** showed the picture of the giant diamond to Denkou. "Sensei told me that he needs this rock for his project tomorrow night. He wants you to get it for him. Problem is they have it locked up, but if you are invisible, you could grab it."

"Where is Sensei?", Denkou asked. "You said you were taking me to him!"

"I will!" Kausa lied. "But first we need to get the rock that Sensei needs!"

"OK," Denkou nodded.

"You'll have to hurry," Skunk said. "You need to go upstairs into the hall of gems before the exhibit opens to the pubic in just 15 minutes."

"OK," the small robot nodded, running up the stairs.

Denkou easily slipped past the guards standing by the entrance to the exhibition hall by becoming invisible. His active photonics fooled the laser beams around the display case, and he easily grabbed the huge diamond, and placed it into his pocket. The small robot headed down the stairs and met up with Skunk in the museum lobby. "I have it, Kusai-San", he said.

"Very good," Skunk smiled. "Let's get going."

Blues parked the Lincoln in front of a rundown hotel on 11th Avenue. Skunk pushed Denkou out of the car. Kusai and his two plug-uglies escorted the small robot into their hotel room.

"Where's Sensei!" Denkou demanded.

"You'll see him in a day or two," Skunk cackled. "Plans have changed. I'm keeping this for now," he said holding the huge diamond.

* * *

 **When** Reno, Rene, and Astro got up to the hall of gems exhibit they found the area roped off with police crime scene tape. Uniformed, and plain clothed cops were examining the place with a fine toothed comb, and the museum personnel were trying to control the crowd.

"What's going on?", Rene asked as a policeman ordered the growing crowd to return back downstairs. Astro cupped his hands to his ears and turned his hearing up to 1000 times sensitivity "The enormous Morbucks diamond is missing," Astro said. "It was in the display cabinet early this morning when the curator was getting the display ready for today's exhibition, and it was missing just minutes before the hall of gems opened to the public. Guards standing by the entrances didn't see anybody enter of leave and none of the security cameras caught anything either. The laser alarm system never triggered, and they've already tested it after the fact, it should have worked. Yet, the diamond just vanished."

"The thief must have been invisible," Reno blurt out.

 **Reno's** cell phone began to vibrate inside of his pocket. He fished it out and answered it.

" _Hello Reno, this is Dr. Emil. Is Denkou with you? I sent him out for my breakfast, but he never returned."_

"No Sensei, he's not with us," Reno replied.

" _Well keep in touch, and let me know you run into him. I may have to report him missing to the police."_

"That break in at the museum sounds like Denkou's work," Astro sighed. "But I don't think he did it on his own. Remember I did see Skunk when we got off the plane."

"I'm afraid you're right, Astro," Reno said. "We should have reported Skunk to the police."

Astro then realized that he recognized one of the plain clothed policemen. "Excuse me a moment," he said, running back towards the roped off area new the exhibit.

"Inspector McClane!" Astro yelled out.

John McClane quickly turned to see who had called him. He immediately recognized the boy robot and motioned to him to come closer. "You're that Astroboy kid from Japan aren't you?" he asked.

"Glad you remembered me, Inspector" Astro replied. "I think we can shed some light on this caper." Astro waved towards his friends, Reno and Rene walked towards him.

"I think this break in might have been the work of an innocent robot who was duped by a master criminal from Japan," Astro said, "Do you have a sketch pad with you?"

"I have this," McClane replied, handing Astro a small wire ring bound notepad and a mechanical pencil.

Astro took the items and began to sketch. He quickly drew a likeness of Skunk Kusai from memory, his hand acting like a dot matrix printer, moving the pencil at warp speed on the paper.

"I saw this character getting off the same flight that we were on," Astro explained. "I knew he wasn't here to just hang out in Times Square tomorrow, he must be up to something. Jewel heists are just up his alley. We came from Japan to help a Doctor Emil setup the light show for New Year's eve. Emil Sensei created a special robot that can interact with light. Denkou, as he is called, can render himself invisible, as well as project images around him. Denkou was going to ride in the ball above the square tomorrow night. Now he's missing, and this museum heist, along with Skunk's presence in N.Y., can't be a coincidence."

"Do you have a picture of this Denkou robot?" McClane asked.

Astro flipped the page on the pad and quickly drew Denkou's likeness for the inspector. "Listen Inspector, Denkou isn't dangerous. He's as naïve as a child, but wouldn't hurt anybody. Please take it easy with him."

"I can't promise anything on that, but I'll tone down the APB on going to put out for him."

"I'd concentrate on finding Skunk," Astro said. "If you find him, you'll probably find Denkou. We need him back or the crowd at Times Square is going to be disappointed!"

Reno snapped two pictures of Astro's drawings with his cellphone camera. He then quickly posted the images up to facebook, and twitter. "I just did my own APB," Reno replied. The special app I wrote a few weeks ago will cross post those images all over the social media. Within an hour, everyone in NYC, who uses those services will have seen Skunks ugly mug, and Denkou's face. If anyone spots either of them, I should get some hits back."

* * *

" **Look Boss!"** , Jazz cried out, pushing the screen of his phone into Skunks face. "Your picture is all over facebook and twitter. So is this kids!", he said pointing at Denkou.

"Well it looks like we'll have to remain in this abode for awhile," Kusai sighed. He rubbed his chin and sat deep in thought. He glanced at Denkou and then his face had the look of an Eureka moment. "I think we can make a break for it during the festivities tomorrow evening. We'll need a diversion of course. Blues, you do have the package, don't you?"

"Right here Boss," the henchman replied.

"Excellent!" Skunk smiled. He turned towards Denkou. "Listen, Denkou, I'm sorry I had to detain you here. You must understand that this is a matter of national security. I need your help, understand?"

"You lied to me about Sensei!," Denkou sobbed. "He's going to be very worried about me!"

"I understand that, but it can't be helped." Skunk said. "That item you removed from the museum was part of a sinister plot to reek chaos. Now that I have it, I can insure that it won't fall into the wrong hands. I will need you to perform a simple task." Skunk displayed a box about the size of a softball to the robot. "You will take this with you tomorrow night up to the top of Times Square. When you perform your light show, you will press the button on the side of the box. It will then send an encoded message to counter agents in the crowd."

"Spy stuff?" Denkou asked.

"Yes," Kusai smiled. "You must tell no one about your mission, even your Sensei! It the secret gets out, the terrorists from Korea might get the upper hand!"

"Gosh!" Denkou gasped.

* * *

 **Dr. Emil** looked disappointed as Reno, Astro, and Rene appeared at his office. "Still no sign of my Denkou?" he asked.

"I've got his image plastered all over the internet," Reno said. "I had hopped that someone in the city would have spotted him and tweeted back to me."

"Skunk may have seen your posts, and is in hiding," Astro pointed out.

"Yes, that makes sense." Rene agreed.

"Well we now have only a few hours before it will be too late to get the New Years display ready to go," Emil said.

The four of them remained in the office, Reno sitting at the doctor's computer searching. He hacked into the city's network of surveillance and traffic cameras, and quickly set up an image recognition hack that would automatically compare Astro's drawings of Skunk and Denkou with the feed from every camera. Dr. Emil had food ordered in for the four of them (well three of them, as Astro had no appetite for pizza under the circumstances).

It was now nearly sundown, and there had been no sign of the missing robot, or Skunk and his henchmen. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Astro opened the office door, and slowly Denkou appeared. "Mr Skunk told me to stay invisible until I got back here to fool the enemy spies," Denkou said.

Dr. Emil rushed towards his creation. "Are your OK, Denkou?" he asked hugging him.

"I'm fine Sensei," the robot replied. "But we need to get to Times Square so I can perform my duty."

"Yes, of course you do!" the doctor replied. "Astro, Rene, let's get going before it's too late!"

"Something's fishy about this," Astro said. "Why did Skunk let Denkou go?"

"We he probably did see your drawings on the internet, and figured he'd sneak out while the city was busy celebrating the New Year," Reno said.

"Yeah, maybe." Rene voiced.

* * *

 **Reno** busied himself helping Emil Sensei complete the wiring on the platform that Denkou would ride up and down the large pole on the roof of One Times Square. The sun had already set by the time they had made it up to the roof top. They made several dry runs, Reno carefully adjusted the speed of the hoist motor, and checked the wiring of the lights on the platform. By the time it was 11 pm it seemed that all was perfect.

"You guys should watch the show from the street below," Denkou said as he climbed onto the platform. "You'll get a much better view."

"Yes, of course," Dr. Emil replied. "If you're sure you'll be OK up here by yourself.

"I'll be fine." Denkou said. "I know you'll come up here to get me when it's all over."

* * *

 **Skunk** stood in the shadow with Blues and Jazz. "When that foolish little robot sets off the package I gave him, we'll escape under the cover of darkness."

"What's in that thing?", Blues asked.

"I was keeping that thing a secret," Skunk laughed. "I brought it just in case we ran into Astro. It's an EMP bomb with enough power to kill the power in this city for about an hour. It will take them at least that long to reset every circuit breaker and restart every generator. By then we should be able to make it all the way to N.J."

"How?", Jazz asked. "I thought that thing would kill every automobile as well."

"You're right about that," Skunk laughed. "Except that I phoned ahead and got prepared. There is a 1962 VW beetle parked in a private lot a few blocks from here at our disposal. Those things have a primitive ignition system, and no computers in their engine systems. Nothing will stop a 'bug'."

* * *

 **The** count down clock now read less than a minute before the end of the year. Reno, Rene, Astro, and Dr. Emil stood in the street watching the ball slowly descend. Astro zoomed his telescopic eyes upward to watch Denkou. The small robot slowly removed a little round box from his pocket and nervously fingered it. Astro zoomed in closer to see just what the little robot was holding.

"Dr. Emil, did you give Denkou a little box with a trigger button on it?", Astro asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Then it isn't part of the show. I bet it's some kind of bomb that Skunk gave him.", Astro said.

"You mustn't let him trigger it!," Reno said. "I'd bet it's an EMP device, so you'd better grab it from him before he can trigger it!"

"On that!" Astro cried out. He blasted off the ground and quickly flew up to the top of the building. The clock now read ten seconds to midnight. "Denkou don't touch that!" Astro yelled. "Skunk is Evil!"

The ball reached the bottom of it's travel, and Denkou disappeared in a glow of light. Astro flew up to him and grabbed at the spherical device. For an instant he an Denkou fought for possession of the device. Denkou had already pressed the button but nothing had happened. Astro grabbed the ball from him and managed to keep the trigger depressed. He realized that it must have worked like a grenade, as soon as he released the trigger it would explode!

"I've got to get rid of this thing somehow," Astro thought. He zoomed up skyward, several miles above the Earth. He then flew to the south till he found himself over a now deserted industrial area of New Jersey. He would up like a major league pitcher and threw the spheroid as hard and fast as he could.

He managed to get it several miles from himself before the device could explode. Somewhere on the ground, in the middle of a large oil refinery there was a large blast of light. The fringe of the EMP blast hit Astro and he momentarily blanked out.

* * *

 **The** crowd roared over the display of lights that Denkou put on. No one noticed the glow to the west, except for those driving on the Pulaski Skyway when the lights went out, and their cars stopped running.

Around two in the morning, Reno returned to his hotel room to find a rather wet Astro drying himself off. "WTF happened to you?" Reno asked.

"I manged to get that device from Denkou, but not until he'd already pressed the trigger," Astro explained. "I was able to hold the trigger button down on the grenade like device and heaved it into N.J. I still caught a piece of the blast, which knocked me out. When I came to, I was floating in the Hudson river, and had to swim back to shore since my jets were still out. How is Denkou?"

"He's OK," Reno said. "Rene, Dr. Emil, and I managed to explain to him what he had done, and I think he realized what a fool Skunk had made of him."

* * *

 **Skunk** and his associates sat inside the ancient German made automobile watching the ball descend. When it reached the bottom he started the car's engine and put it in gear. They drove though the empty streets and made it as far the entrance to the Lincoln tunnel when the bomb went off over N.J. The toll taker at the tunnel recognized his face from Reno's tweet, and pressed a button in her booth. Within seconds several N.J. state troopers had the old car surrounded.

* * *

 **Professor Ochanomizu** listened carefully as Reno relayed his and Astro's adventure in NYC. "So the police recovered the stolen diamond from Skunk, and no charges were pressed against Denkou and Dr. Emil?" he asked.

"Hai, Hakase," Reno replied. "It took us quite a while to educate Denkou, the doctor had never given him a strong 'right vs wrong' program. He was as innocent and naive as a little boy."

"Well Astro, I also heard from Inspector McClane thanking you for your help. I didn't know you were a police sketch artist?", the professor laughed.

"I'm no artist," Astro said. "But I do a fair job as a b&w image printer."

"How was Rene?"

"We had a good time, despite our encounter with Skunk," Reno laughed. "Thanks for allowing me to extend my trip by a few days. We finally did make it back to the museum and the planetarium."

"Glad to hear it."

"BTW, your cold sounds better," Reno added.

"What cold?" the professor laughed. "That was an act. I knew you wanted to visit with your girl friend, and I had no desire to travel. I hate crowds. Oh by the way, Happy New Year!"


End file.
